Report of the ICES Working Group on Marine Mammal Ecology (WGMME)

• Main Authors: Ahola, Markus, Alves, Filipe, Authier, Matthieu, Banga, Roma, Brasseur, Sophie, Bundone, Luigi, Carpentieri, Paolo, Clear, Niki, Evans, Peter G. H., Fariñas-Bermejo, Andrea, Fernández, Diego, Fernández, Ruth, Fortuna, Caterina, Galatius, Anders, Geelhoed, S. C. V., Gilles, Anita, Granquist, Sandra Magdalena, Gutiérrez-Muñoz, Paula, Haelters, Jan, Hammond, Philip, Hernández-Milian, Gema, Hernández-González, Alberto, van den Hurk, Youri, Jauniaux, Thierry, Jussi, Mark, Lundstrom, Karl, Mo, Giulia, Moors-Murphy, Hilary, Neimanis, Aleksija, Nilssen, Kjell, García Núñez, Norma Eréndira, Panou, Aliki, Persson, Sara, Petitguyot, Marie, Pierce, Graham J., Popov, Dimitar, Puig-Lozano, Raquel, Ransijn, Janneke, Rasmussen, Marianne H., Renell, Jenny, Smout, Sophie, Vázquez Bonales, José Antonio, Vilas-Arrondo, Nair, Vincent, Cécile
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: English
• Published: International Council for the Exploration of the Sea 2023
• Subjects: Faroe Islands; North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/342910; https://doi.org/10.17895/ices.pub.24131736

131 pages.-- This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) Five terms of reference (ToRs) were addressed at the working group. The first three terms of reference were standing ones. Under ToR A, new information on cetacean and seal population abundance, distribution, and population/stock structure, was reviewed, including information on vagrancy in cetacean and pinniped species. For cetaceans, coverage from the latest SCANS-IV survey (summer 2022) was presented as well as the results of recent regional/national surveys, particularly those in the Bay of Biscay and around the Iberian Peninsula. Updates on population estimates and distribution were provided for particular species studies, such as some coastal bottlenose dolphin populations. For seals, latest monitoring results were given for harbour, grey, and Baltic and Saimaa ringed seals. In addition, where possible, local long-term trends were illustrated for those species, based on earlier efforts by WGMME to assemble these data into a seal database. For both species’ groups, recent records of vagrant species were summarised. Under ToR B, cetacean and seal management frameworks in the North Atlantic were discussed, with an overview of the EU Maritime Spatial Planning Directive, and examples from the United Kingdom, Spain and the Faroe Islands of national management frameworks regarding marine mammals. ToR C provided an overview of new published information with regards to anthropogenic threats to marine mammal populations following on from the review by WGMME in 2015 (ICES, 2015) and subsequent updates. These were considered under the following headings: cumulative effects, fishery interactions, chemical pollution including marine debris, underwater noise, ship strikes and other physical trauma, tourism disturbance, climate change, and new pathogens (including avian influenza). ToR D focused upon bycatch. In support of WGBYC, this ToR aimed to contribute to the Roadmap for ICES PETS bycatch advice. ToR E ...